Dawn Richard is pulling back the curtain on what she describes as a controlling and “volatile” experience working alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in the R&B group Diddy-Dirty Money.
Richard, who joined Combs and Kalenna Harper to form Diddy-Dirty Money, discussed her time in the group during Wednesday’s episode of Reality With the King. The group released only one album, Last Train to Paris, in 2011.
Richard, who also rose to fame as a cast member Making the Band, a reality show in which contestants competed to form an all girl group later named Danity Kane, said Combs had control over nearly every aspect of her appearance, leaving her little room to make decisions about how she presented herself.
“The work environment wasn’t normal,” Richard said, describing a schedule that was practically continuous.
She explained that she couldn’t even choose what to wear without getting Combs’ approval.
“Everything I wore had to be photographed first and approved,” she said. “I was a grown woman. I couldn’t pick what I wanted to wear, how my hair should be worn. We had to run that by him every day. That’s not normal.”
Richard said the women were treated more like merchandise than artists, despite being encouraged to view the experience as an opportunity they should be grateful to have.
“We were commodities—products—and treated horribly,” she said.
And apparently, the group’s instability extended beyond the day-to-day working conditions. Richard said Combs’ decision to leave Diddy-Dirty Money ultimately led to the group’s dissolution.
“Again, it was volatile,” she said.
Richard’s latest comments add to her yearslong public criticism of the music mogul. She previously filed a lawsuit against Combs alleging sexual assault, mistreatment and inhumane working conditions, among other claims. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.
Last month, during an appearance on Way Up With Angela Yee, Richard also accused Combs of taking unreleased Dirty Money vocals and using them on his 2023 album, The Love Album: Off the Grid.
“One of the biggest misconceptions was everybody thought I worked with Puff after I left him because they saw The Love Album. He stole that vocal. That was a Dirty Money song,” she said.
Combs is currently serving a 50-month federal prison sentence after being convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. His release date has reportedly been pushed back.
For Richard, the Dirty Money chapter may have produced music, but her latest account makes clear that the experience behind the scenes was anything but a love affair.
